


Meant to be

by DancingStarQueen



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Red String of Fate, Reincarnation AU, Romance, Soulmate AU, just multiple chapters of KaoKana fluff, mentions of other ships on the side, occasional mentions of other Enstars characters, slight angst if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29828847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingStarQueen/pseuds/DancingStarQueen
Summary: "Do you believe in soulmates?"Kaoru found the thought of soulmates ridiculous. He also found it ridiculous how excited people were getting over the most recent news about them circulating all around Ensemble Square.There was nothing romantic about the possibility of being tied to a single person through time and space. It was creepy and made him shiver in discomfort when he just thought about it.No, he didn't believe in Soulmates.Not yet, anyways.
Relationships: Hakaze Kaoru/Shinkai Kanata
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. Red string of fate

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first multi chapter project!  
> I've been meaning to write some more KaoKana for a while now, since they're my favourite ship, but found myself in a terrible writers block for months that was just recently lifted thanks to some really supportive friends of mine.  
> So here we are!  
> I've been thinking a lot about the idea for this fanficiton, the soulmate AU I wanna go with and after about 2 weeks of work I think things are finally coming together in a way that is worth of being published.
> 
> I hope you all, who decide to click onto this fanfiction and decide to give it a try, are going to enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing this piece!

_"Please don't… don't leave."_   
_"Hey, you make it sound like I won't return! I always come back, right? I promised."_   
_"... You did. I just wonder if I still will be around when you return…"_

_______________________________

"What do you 'think' about… Kaoru?"

The blonde male blinked in surprise at the sound of his name and rose his head to look at the source of the voice. Kanata was looking up at him from his place in the fountain, some wet strands of hair clinging to his forehead as he tilted his head to the side. Kaoru chuckled quietly and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. He got lost in thoughts often these days. "I'm sorry… What were you saying? I kinda lost focus for a second."

Kanata huffed quietly and pouted as he spoke up again. “Kaoru is ‘losing’ focus a lot recently, it ‘worries’ me.” He mumbled and pulled his knees up to his chest, head resting on top of them. “I was ‘asking’ what you think about that new ‘discovery’ they talked about in the news yesterday. You watched that ‘documentary’ too, didn’t you? About reincarnation and the ‘red string of fate’, I mean.” The blue haired male elaborated and this time made sure that Kaoru was actually listening to his words.  
Ah. Kaoru nodded lightly. For a few weeks now, documentaries and news articles about scientist discoveries about reincarnations circulated all over the world. Something about how if soulmates found each other once in another lifetime, they’ll from then on be reincarnated together over and over again. Honestly, it sounded a lot like wishful thinking of lonely people. The thought of some person waiting for you and you only…

“I think it sounds a little ridiculous. Reincarnation? I guess I can get behind that, somehow. But soulmates? Nah. Besides, the thought of some random person you might not even know being your soulmate feels kinda weird. Imagine some kind of ancient spell or whatever binding you to a random person you might not ever be able to love. How are you supposed to find out if they’re your soulmate anyways?” Kaoru had to admit that he didn’t really pay attention to the entirety of the documentary and halfway through he even fell asleep. The thought of people having soulmates felt weird, so the Blonde really tried to not let it infest his mind too much.  
A year ago, Kaoru maybe would’ve been more open to the idea. Back when he was a highschool student who’d rather spend his time on meaningless dates than what felt like slaving away in school. The whole soulmate stick probably was a decent way of picking up a girl or two. But now? Kaoru shivered at the thought.

Kanata chuckled quietly and shook his head. “Ah, Kaoru only watched ‘half’ of the actual show again~ I can’t blame you. Idol work has been ‘catching’ up on you lately…” He reached out with a wet hand and gently patted Kaoru’s, which was resting on the cold stone of the fountain. The taller male flinched slightly at the contact but didn’t pull away. While still unused to accepting any kind of affection from another male, it wasn’t unpleasant anymore. Not when it was Kanata, at least.  
“Apparently, in order to ‘find’ your soulmate, you need to ‘remember’ your past life with them. And once you ‘do’ remember, you can see the ‘red string’ of fate that connects you with them.” Kanata smiled serenely as he talked. He seemed to have a completely different opinion on the topic than his friend.  
“I think it sounds a little ‘romantic’. Once upon a time, people fell in love and the feeling was so strong that fate ‘decided’ to bind them to each other through the ages… Doesn’t that ‘sound’ like true love to you?”

Kaoru shrugged at the question. Did it? He honestly had no idea. It’s not like Kaoru ever experienced romantic love before. He had a reputation as a playboy, not as a dedicated boyfriend. So he had no clue about true love and what it was supposed to be like. He looked at Kanata, who was all excited smiles and shimmering eyes and the taller male found himself smiling as well before he had a chance to stop himself.  
They were talking about soulmates and love and romance, was that the right time to take notice of how pretty the other looked? Water dripping from some blue strands of hair, green eyes twinkling in the morning sun… The Blonde shook his head lightly.  
“I don’t know. To me it just sounds weird and annoying. Imagine you get reincarnated and fall in love with someone who’s not your soulmate.” Despite his serious words, he couldn’t help but chuckle lightly when he saw Kanata roll his eyes at his answer.

“Ah, Kaoru has lost his sense of ‘romance’ I see~” The shorter boy teased with a small grin. “Chiaki was all over the ‘idea’ of a soulmate when we texted yesterday evening. He was going on and on about how he ‘hopes’ his potential soulmate is a really ‘cute’ girl. I might’ve been under the ‘impression’ you would think something similar.”  
Kaoru pouted and was about to jokingly reply how hurt he was, hearing such words from a friend and that Kanata should know him better than that, when the blue haired male suddenly got to his feet. “Speaking of ‘Chiaki’, Ryuseitai has gotten a job offer that is ‘scheduled’ for this morning. Since the ‘kids’ are at school it’s just the two of us, I shouldn’t leave him by himself. I should get a ‘change’ of clothes too, before I make my way there...” He climbed out of the fountain as he spoke, clothes dripping with water and leaving a small puddle beneath his feet.  
With a quick wave and a promise to meet up again as soon as their busy schedules allow it, Kanata made his way back towards the Starmony dorm to get changed and ready for another long work day. Staying behind, was Kaoru, lost in thought about what Kanata had said.

_“I might’ve been under the ‘impression’ you would think something similar.”_

Was that really how he came off to others? To Kanata? Not that there was anything wrong with hoping for some cute girl to be one’s soulmate. It sounded so much like Chiaki too, Kaoru even found it funny and for sure would use it to tease the Ryuseitai Unit leader when he got the chance to. But… something about Kanata viewing him as someone who’d be out for just any cute girl who was willing to attach herself to his hip for the rest of their lives bothered him.  
Frowning lightly, the blonde boy got up and made his way back to the ES main buildings. Soulmates were a ridiculous concept and with that, he was sure he could drop the subject once and for all and concentrate on his idol work. After all, he promised he’d take things more seriously.


	2. In another life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a Prince and his Knight found themselves connected by the red string of fate.

“Your highness? If you wanted to meet me here, maybe you should come out of your hiding spot?”

The tall blonde male hummed softly, a smile on his lips as he walked through the long hallway. It was nighttime and difficult to see, the only source of light being the candle the man was holding out in front of him. Earlier that day, a letter had reached his hands, telling him to come here once night falls. Usually he would be wary of such demands, however, the letter carried the Prince’s signature. As a knight, he had no reason nor right to refuse. So once it was dark and his duties came to an end, taken over by the night guard, he had changed out of his heavy gear and made his way to the specific hallway his prince asked him to appear in.  
But now that he was here, there was nothing but the night and silence. The hallway was one with no special rooms located. No treasures or bedrooms of the royal family, so it wasn’t guarded. The silence wasn’t unsettling, but it did have the knight on guard. Though, he didn’t expect for something, or someone for that matter, to suddenly reach for his wrist and pull him into one of the many unoccupied rooms, the door closing quickly behind him.

“You sure have taken your ‘time’ arriving here, Kaoru.”

The Blonde rested his back against the door as he tried to calm his racing heart. He glanced upon the figure in front of him, blue shimmering hair framing a pale face and green eyes reflecting the dim light of the candle. His shocked expression slowly changed into a softened one.  
“My apologies for being late. Though, I would have arrived at the destination a little earlier if the sender of this ominous letter refrained from speaking in riddles and just told me he wanted to meet me in a specific room.” Kaoru chuckled quietly as he watched the shorter male pout at his words. The Blonde slowly held out his arms to pull the other male in, teasing smirk turning into a gentle smile. “Forgive me. I am here now, am I not? My dear Kanata.”

Kanata’s head almost violently smacked against Kaoru’s chest as he accepted the offer of a hug, the comfort of the other male’s body warmth making him sigh softly. “I ‘figured’ you might be smart enough to figure it out on your own. We have ‘met’ here before, after all.” He said quietly, arms tightening around Kaoru’s waist. The prince smiled at the feeling of fingers running through his hair, smoothing it out. Just a minute of pure bliss in a world that was ruled by wars between kingdoms.   
Meanwhile Kaoru glanced around the room. In general, there was nothing special about this room. A small single person bed was standing in the corner, alongside a small bedside table and a closet. The furniture has been catching a lot of dust over the years of not being of any use. One of the closet doors even was close to falling off, the wood old and probably moldy from not being taken care of.   
Kanata spoke up again, head lifted so he was able to look at the slightly taller man. “I don’t ‘blame’ you for not remembering. After all, we both have been ‘children’ back then. You had just begun ‘training’ so you were new, wandering the hallways without ‘permission’.” He paused for a moment, making sure Kaoru was still listening before he continued. “We ‘met’ here for the first time.” He then added and chuckled at the quiet ‘oh’ sound the other made.

“Right… I’ve been exploring the castle on my own instead of attending training that day. The hallway looked abandoned so I didn’t expect to come across another child. Let alone a crying child. You didn’t watch where you were going and ran straight against me. You then begged me to help you hide. We sat in that room for quite a while, hiding in that closet in the corner. I asked for your name but you refused to talk so we spent the time in silence until you were ready to return to wherever you had run off from. The second we had left the room, some of the adult knights rushed over and started thanking and praising me for ‘finding’ you. Apparently, the crown prince had run away from his meeting with royalty from the next kingdom over.” The tone in Kaoru’s voice was teasing and Kanata gently poked his sides.

“I simply followed my parents ‘advice’. In case of danger approaching, I should ‘hide’ and that is what I did.” Kanata mumbled. Even now, years later, he could think of a million different things he thought of as being more pleasant than meeting up with Prince Madara. “And not only did I hide away ‘successfully’, it also gave me the opportunity of ‘meeting’ you. We’ve come to spend a lot of time ‘together’ afterwards.”

Kaoru placed a chaste kiss to the top of Kanata’s head. “Only because you decided to attach yourself to my hip so suddenly. At first you started to visit sword training regularly. Eventually we started to play hide and seek in the gardens. When we got older, you decided you wanted to be in charge for the Knights quarters inspections that happen twice every week. Before I knew what was happening I was assigned as your personal guard. And now…” The words died on his tongue, the grip on the shorter male’s shirt tightening just slightly. Speaking about it, putting it into words felt like a tabu they shouldn’t break… Ah, what was he thinking. It **is** a tabu. And they did already break it. Have been for month after month.

At first, it was just spending time together. They were children, 10 years old, playing hide and seek between rose bushes and oak trees. Kaoru, being a good child, had simply followed the orders he was given: Spending his free time entertaining the young prince to the best of his abilities. He really didn’t mind. No child would find it a task to play around in the dirt all afternoon.  
As they got older, they got more busy. Kanata was called in for lessons in etiquette, history and politics more often. All the things Kaoru didn’t understand. His mother died when he was still very young and he hadn’t seen his father in years, him being a travelling salesman. He never went to school, never had any lessons besides the basic reading and writing he was taught by his older siblings. At the rare occasions they did manage to meet, it was more lingering glances than actual conversations. That didn’t stop them from meeting up in the gardens once every week though, by the fountain Kanata was so fond of. Their feet hung in the cold water as Kanata talked about geography and how apparently, not far away from the castle, there was a beautiful ocean. In return, Kaoru kept him up to date on things happening in town, the shops he regularly visited and the games he learned from the children there.  
Their first kiss was clumsy but not unintentional. They held onto each other for dear life, barely 17 years old and hiding behind the very same rose bushes they used to hide behind when they were still children. Kaoru remembered all too clearly how he didn’t even have a chance to pull away properly to take a quick breather before he was pulled back in by the collar of his shirt. He remembered every other detail about this very moment too. The way the sun had shone against the back of his head, how his fingers dug into Kanata’s sides ever so slightly, pulling him in closer despite his mind screaming at him to stop. How Kanata had smiled at him, promised him it would be alright. How he let himself be convinced.

Kaoru’s train of thoughts was stopped suddenly when he felt a pair of warm lips press against his own. He returned the kiss without thinking twice, his hands rubbing gentle circles onto the other male’s back. Kanata smiled into the kiss.  
“You are ‘thinking’ too much… I called you here to talk to you, not to have you get ‘lost’ in thought.”  
Kaoru hummed softly, pressing a quick peck against Kanata’s lips before speaking. “Right, right. My attention is all yours now, I promise. Do tell, what did you want to talk about?”  
Kanata’s smile widened, seemingly satisfied with the words of his beloved.  
“While on my walk this morning, I ‘overheard’ an interesting conversation between two of the maids… Have you ever heard of ‘soulmates’?”


	3. Morning talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hearing voices in your sleep was completely normal...or was it not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a tiny piece of the Izumi and Kaoru interaction we are regularly robbed of-

_“...Have you ever heard of soulmates?”_

Kaoru woke up in cold sweat. The Blonde groaned quietly as he sat up in his bed. The digital clock on his nightstand read 8:45am. With a soft sigh, the male swung his legs out of bed and pushed himself onto his feet. He had to get up in a few minutes anyways, it didn’t matter.  
Besides Kaoru, the dorm room was completely empty. Yuta probably was in school by now and he faintly remembered Nagisa saying something about having business with the other Eden members early in the morning and that he probably won’t be back for the entire day. Kaoru grabbed a set of fresh clothes before disappearing into the bathroom to get ready for the day.  
The cold water coming from the showerhead woke him up properly, but it didn’t put his mind at ease at all. He felt like he had some really weird dream but no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t remember a thing about it. Quite the opposite, actually. The more he thought about it all, the blurrier the dream seemed to get. The only thing he still could make out was a single sentence. “Have you ever heard of soulmates…” He mumbled to himself. It’s been a few days since he and Kanata had that conversation but even without his eccentric friend around the topic was blooming all over Ensemble Square. If anything, Kaoru just found it a little strange that suddenly a bunch of idol guys were out and about to find their possible other half. Even worse, it felt like all his friends were ganging up on him as soon as the topic is mentioned. With a frown he thought back to the phone call he had with Izumi just yesterday.

_“Ridiculous? You out of all people think it’s ridiculous?” Izumi asked, voice almost drowned out by the sounds of the busy streets of Florence. Kaoru stopped mid-motion before slowly placing the glass of water back onto the table. He didn’t want to risk anything. “Hold on… You wanna tell me YOU out of all people believe in all that pseudo magical hocus pocus?” He asked. He practically could hear the grey haired male roll his eyes. “It’s not about believing it or not, it’s about experiencing it.” A few seconds passed before realization hit Kaoru. “Hold on a sec! Does that mean-” “Ah, I’m sorry, I gotta hang up. You don’t pay attention to Leo for two seconds and suddenly that idiot is god knows where. Talk to you later.”_

Kaoru hasn’t gotten an answer to his question since. Of course he had texted Izumi right after the other had hung up but, in true Izumi fashion, Kaoru was left on read. The Blonde huffed as he stared at his phone while leaving the dorm room. It’s not like he expected an answer but it was like the two blue check marks underneath his last sent message to his friend were mocking him.

Kaoru spent a good 30 minutes of his precious morning getting Rei out of bed and ready for the day. “Kaoru-kun is so cruel…” The raven haired man mumbled, seemingly still drunk on sleep as he almost forgot to slip his shoes on before leaving the dorm room.  
“It’s my revenge for all those times you’ve sent out people to drag me to practice. Two can play that game.” The younger of the two teased as he walked ahead. “Hey, Rei-kun… Did you ever feel like you had a very specific and detailed dream but no matter what you do, you can’t remember a single thing upon waking up?”  
Kaoru wasn’t sure why he suddenly asked a question like that. Or why that whole dream situation was even still bothering him in the first place. He was sure tons of people experienced that kind of thing every single day. In fact, he believed to know that most people couldn’t remember their dreams when they woke up so-

“What an odd question to ask so early in the morning.” Rei replied, steps quickening lightly to match Kaoru’s pace. “Now, it isn’t particularly rare that people can’t remember what they dreamt about at night. Do you think there was something special about that dream of yours? You seem frustrated about not being able to recall what happened in it.” Kaoru stopped in his tracks and Rei tilted his head to the side. Good question. Did Kaoru think there might have been something special about this dream that made him want to remember it?

“... I don’t know.” He eventually answered. “It’s not like I usually care much for any kind of dreams.” He added. The tall male ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, a frown visible on his face. Well, if there’s anyone out there he could talk to about this kind of stuff, it probably was Rei. He did consider him one of his closest friends, so he was sure he wouldn’t think Kaoru had lost his mind. “... I think I heard a voice in my dream. It’s the only thing I can remember from it. Someone was talking. I don’t know if they were talking to me or someone else. Something about soulmates.” The Blonde hesitated to add the soulmate part to his explanations. He tried to avoid the topic as much as he possibly could after all.  
Rei nodded slightly as they started to move forward again, the older male pushing Kaoru forward to signal that they still had places to go.

“I thought you decided to not believe in the entire soulmate theory going around currently?” The vampiric idol said with a teasing smile. “In any way, hearing a voice in your sleep is quite unusual… Aren’t you sharing a room with one of the Aoi twins? Have you considered that he’s been playing a little prank on you, by any chance?”  
Kaoru let out a thoughtful hum. While it wasn't unusual for the twins to play little harmless pranks on other people every once in a while, Kaoru thought of Yuta, whom he was sharing a room with, as the more held back and calm twin. He decided to shake his head no at the question.

"I don't think Yuta-kun would play such a random prank… Besides that, the voice sounded softer. Gentle. I'd almost say it was trying to soothe me... Or whoever else the voice was talking to." Kaoru elaborated. He pushed the door open that led out of Starmony hall but stopped when he noticed that Rei wasn't following into the warm morning sun. Instead, the older male was hovering over his phone, seemingly mumbling something into the microphone before letting the device slide back into the pocket of his jeans. Kaoru laughed lightly. "Speech to text function?"

"Have mercy on this old man, Kaoru-kun. I am trying my very best to warm up to technology. They are supposed to make life easier and yet they make mine so much more difficult!" Rei spoke and for a second, Kaoru felt like Rei was almost… nervous? Or at least as if he was trying to lead the conversation into a direction away from the message.  
No. No that couldn't be.  
Rei sighed softly in relief when Kaoru shrugged it off and turned back around. The raven haired man quickly checked the message he just sent one last time before following his Unit mate.

**He's starting to remember.**


	4. In another life II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick heads up!  
> I am aware that some of my chapters might be significantly shorter than others, but on some days I have the attention span of a toddler so writing anything super long (like an entire fanfiction the way I do now) can be difficult for me.  
> I write chapters for this fic whenever a solid idea to continue comes to mind and once I finished the thought, the chapter usually is finished as well no matter if it has 200 or 2000 words.  
> However, I can assure you that I pour my heart and soul into each word I'm typing so this is not a half assed project at all!
> 
> That's all, thanks for understanding and for following me on this journey!

Kanata’s fingers nervously drummed against the wooden table, his cheek resting in the palm of his hand as he glanced out of the window of his study room. It was warm and sunny today. Kaoru’s favourite kind of weather. The blue haired royal felt like during those days, his knight shone the brightest. He sighed softly and buried his face in his hands. He hasn't seen Kaoru in over a week. The tall Blonde was called as backup to clear some riots that have been going on along the kingdom's borders (which was a absolute audacity on its own, after all, Kaoru was supposed to be his personal guard!) and Kanata felt a mix of confusion and anger when he thought about how Kaoru left without a single word.  
What if something happened to him? What if he got hurt? What… What if he didn't come back at all? An unpleasant shiver ran down Kanata's spine at the mere thought of his Knight not returning. He was informed the riots weren't anything the Knights can't handle but…

The prince was snapped out of his thoughts by a slight tug on his hand. He quickly lifted his head and stared at his fingers, a faint red string wrapped around his pinky.  
Kanata had consulted the royal fortune teller Natsume about this a few weeks ago. Apparently the "red string of fate", as he called it, is part of an ancient spell that binds soulmates together for all times. Natsume wasn't able to tell Kanata much more about it, but suggested seeking advice from the royal Magician (The king and queen oftentimes called Wataru a clown but Kanata thought otherwise). The Prince always has thought Wataru's knowledge of magic was something special so he listened with great interest when the tall man with long hair talked.

According to Wataru, there was a couple a few hundred years back who loved each other so deep and dearly, that the pure thought of ever parting from each other caused them immeasurable pain. They sought out the help of an old woman who was known for her talent for spells and potions. The couple asked her to make sure they'll always find each other again, no matter what happens. So the woman bound them together by the red string of fate. It's supposed to connect them through all times. Apparently, the magic cast on the couple came with several restrictions and difficulties but the knowledge was lost over the years. The only thing that was certain was that Soulmates existed and that they'll forever be bound together by said red string. A string only visible to the couple alone.

Wataru adviced Kanata to take this entire story with a grain of salt. After all, being reincarnated with your soulmate for all eternity did not sound all that believable, not even to him. However, Kanata was born into a family that strongly believed in reincarnation and as the son to a mother who was thought to be the second coming of a goddess, he couldn't help but trust in his friend and adviser's words.  
Besides that, the thought of him and Kaoru being soulmates who had a life together before and will share many more lives in the future made him incredibly happy. He loved Kaoru. He loved him more than he could ever love anyone or anything else in the world. He never wanted to be separated from him if given the chance. And… he hoped Kaoru was feeling the same way.

The male felt another tug on his pinky and quickly got up from his chair. He's been spending all day in his study room, not getting much more done than thinking about his Beloved. Could the tug on the string mean…? The door to the study opened, revealing one of the servants. "My prince, your mother, the queen requests for you to welcome the knights who just returned from their journey."

Kanata smiled. Kaoru was back.


End file.
